


Old Faces, New Threats

by NeopetsKid



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, Nightmares, One Shot, PTSD, Post Calamity Ganon, Theories, You can read this as romantic if u want, references to other games, speculations, this sounds like a lot but it’s pretty short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 14:36:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19336519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeopetsKid/pseuds/NeopetsKid
Summary: 100 years has passed, and Link and Zelda are ready to never be in danger again. Unfortunately for them, the goddesses (Nintendo) have other plans.





	Old Faces, New Threats

**Author's Note:**

> Y’all seen the trailer? This is basically a one shot about it with some speculations of my own that I’ll leave at the end.

Link seemed… different. This was to be expected, Zelda supposed. 100 years will change a person, especially if said person happens to lose their memories and have to save the world. But he was different in unexpected ways.

 

He was more open. For the most part, this was good. In the few months since defeating Calamity Ganon, Zelda had seen him smile more times than she ever had before. He was expressive, compassionate, and so unlike the closed-off warrior from a century before. Zelda relished in this new, ardent Link. For the most part.

 

Link being more open also meant that Zelda now saw new sides of him. Far sadder and more bitter than before. Or perhaps she was simply seeing it for the first time, and had never bothered to look before the Calamity. As much as it pained her to realize, Zelda came to understand that she hadn’t really known Link very well.

 

This realization came one night on a trip to Rito Village. The two had set out to visit each region to meet with their respective leaders to begin patching Hyrule up again. Link had offered to teleport them using the Sheikah Slate, but Zelda was uneasy at the prospect of two people transporting at once. Her research had shown that this could result in catastrophes, and Zelda was sick of those. So the two headed out on foot.

 

The very first night of travel the duo set up camp slightly off the road in West Hyrule Plains. They had decided to take the southern route to avoid the biting winds of the Hebra region for as long as possible. Link set up a fire with alarming ease, leaving Zelda to arrange their sleeping area. In no time at all, the two were sat at the fire, making some sort of fish dish.

 

Zelda had attempted to make conversation, but Link was still as quiet as ever. Oddly enough, he didn’t sign any responses. Had he forgotten those too?

 

It became apparent that he did not fully remember her. Rather, Link remembered concepts of Zelda, brief snapshots that he struggled to bring into a full picture. He seemed surprised when Zelda made casual, friendly conversation. With a pang, Zelda realized he must only remember their first meetings. Link treated her like he did back then: unwaveringly quiet, formal, and (most painful of all) seeming to expect Zelda to ignore, berate, or yell at him. 

 

He didn’t remember how their relationship had progressed beyond her initial jealousy. He didn’t remember how they had snuck out of the castle together, how they had relaxed in each other’s company, or how Zelda had  _ finally _ gotten him to talk. He didn’t remember her. Not really. He just remembered events involving her.

 

After trying and failing to get him to ease up, Zelda had taken first watch (despite Link’s worried, nonverbal arguments). Situating herself by a tree, she looked out across the vast plains.

 

The moon cast silver shadows across the violet ocean sky, illuminating the grassy fields below. Blades of grass shone like gentle knives swaying in the calm breeze. Animals came and went. Stars twinkled.

 

Zelda let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and felt a familiar warmth behind her eyes. It had been so long since she had been outside. So long since she saw the sky. So long since she had air to breathe in.

 

Brushing at her eyes, Zelda went to get the Sheikah Slate. Skies like these should be remembered for when they cannot be experienced.

 

As she tip-toed to Link’s satchel, her eye caught movement. Feeling her heart stop and a cold heat rush down her spine, Zelda froze. 

 

Turning slowly, hand reaching for the dagger Link had given her, Zelda readied herself for the worst.

 

It never came. Instead, when she turned, she saw Link’s form by the fire, moving restlessly. Tossing and turning, but not a monster. With a sigh, Zelda removed her hand from her sheath, trying to ignore the way it shook. 

 

She made her way over to the dying coals where Link lay. Now closer, she could see his face was scrunched up, eyebrows drawn tight and eyes shut hard. He was muttering something, but was far too quiet and slurred to understand. Every few seconds he would turn over, seemingly restless.

 

He was having a nightmare, Zelda concluded. Heart aching, she looked down at her friend, wondering what to do. Waking him up seemed merciful, but would he be angry that she wasn’t taking watch? Would he be embarrassed to be seen like that? Would he shut himself off even more?

 

Link gave a particularly loud mumble, kicking his leg out and missing Zelda by millimeters. No matter, Zelda decided. She had the opportunity to help; she wasn’t just going to stand by.

 

“Link,” she whispered, shaking his shoulder. “Wake up.”

 

A pause. Link froze, and then mumbled something even faster than before, hands scrabbling across his chest. 

 

“Link.” Louder this time. “ _ Link _ .”

 

With a gasp, Link shot up, nearly smacking Zelda in the face as he looked about frantically, hand already on a nearby dagger. Where had he gotten that?

 

“Link,” Zelda said in a tone she hoped was calm, once more resting her hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re awake.”

 

Link looked towards her, blinking the confusion from his eyes. As the haze cleared, embarrassment replaced it. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.

 

Zelda tightened her light hold on his shoulder. “Link, I know you don’t really remember me.” He looked up at her, eyes sad and  _ tired- _ far too tired for a boy his age. Zelda supposed they both held these eyes.

 

Taking a deep breath, Zelda started again. “I know you don’t really remember me. But I want- I need you to know that you can talk to me. In whatever way you can. I know you might not remember but you and I, before all of this, we were  _ friends _ . And if you want to, I- think we could be friends again. Just know that.”

 

Her speech over, Link nodded, eyes softening. Zelda smiles.

 

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Link shook his head vigorously. “Okay. I’ll take this watch with you.”

 

Link didn’t protest that time.

 

So began their odd reconciliation. Over the next several months, the two became inseparable. Not perfect, but far better than before. 

 

And so, when the excavation of newly discovered ruins under Hyrule Castle began, Link jumped at the chance to help however he could. Zelda knew he was excited at the prospect of danger or challenges, but appreciated him spending time with her. After all, this was an excellent chance to discover more about the lost Zonai civilization.

 

They took a pack mule with them, loading the beast with supplies for days. Cave-ins were a real possibility, and Zelda would never again enter a situation unprepared.

 

Yet when the time came to search the area, Zelda felt a familiar pressure on her chest. The caves were tight, far too tight for her liking. Enclosed, confined,  _ trapped _ \- she had sworn she wouldn’t feel like that ever again but the walls were  _ shrinking _ and the air was  _ thickening- _

 

Attempting to swallow the lump in her throat, Zelda pressed on, grateful that at least the torches gave them light as they ventured further into the darkness. This gratefulness only increased when luminous stones began appearing in the cavers, shining their ghostly glow upon the duo.

 

Time passed. Zelda had not stopped to take notes so far. The only remarkable thing was the  _ shape _ of the stones, perfectly cut and devoid of impurities. Odd, but perhaps not the oddest to come.

 

This premonition proved correct as the two stumbled a bridge surrounded by these sake stones with a minecart and a rail on top. Zelda stopped to quickly sketch the details. The cart was in surprisingly good shape, only rusted by the hinges and wheels but otherwise intact. The railing fared the same. 

 

After a few more minutes of drawing, Zelda stood back up, cracking her back and stretching as she went. Link looked up from where he had been sitting and motioned at her. Frowning, Zelda came over to see what he had found.

 

At his feet was a misshapen… stone? It seemed to have some sort of crown at the top and a cracked hand could be found several centimeters away. Perhaps it was a statue. Although why the hand would be completely separate with no cracks at the wrist and no arms to be found was beyond what Zelda had patience for.

 

Nodding, Zelda stooped to sketch the strange object. When done, she started walking to the other end of the bridge, only to find Link had not followed her. Turning around, she saw him looking at the object with a strange expression, part confusion and part deep sadness.

 

“What’s wrong?” Zelda asked gently. Link looked up, shaken out of whatever trance he had been in and shook his head. All he offered was a quick tap to his head.  _ Familiar. _

 

The two ventured on past the bridge. As they continued, the passage became darker and darker, smaller and smaller, and Zelda began to feel weaker and weaker. She drew closer to Link unconsciously.

 

The walls became littered with carvings. Figures on horseback, fierce warriors, and… Gerudo symbols? The decay was too significant to be sure.

 

Just when Zelda was about to propose that they turn back, the duo noticed a light in the distance. Perhaps the tunnel opened back up! Zelda sped up, anxious to be in a less confined space. Link followed, albeit more cautiously. 

 

The light became brighter and brighter, shifting to an eerie green. The ghostly color was reminiscent of the stones along the way, shifting into strange symbols in the air. Zelda wasn’t sure, but this too seemed reminiscent of the Gerudo.

 

The light was coming from a strange source. As Zelda held up her torch to see, she could make out a silhouette. The light came spiraling down in a great whirlpool of energy to condense into a hand, clawed and thin, clothed in gold jewelry. The hand was grasping something, something large, something red, something  _ dead- _

 

Link took a step closer, unsheathing the Master Sword. Then several things happened in rapid succession.

 

At this point in her life, Zelda was no stranger to dangerous and fast-paced situations. As such, she has learned that these scenarios rarely slowed to allow for any rational thinking. Moments like these happened in the blink of an eye, and one needed to react faster than that to stay alive.

 

Link didn’t act fast enough.

 

He stepped forward, placing himself firmly between Zelda and whatever that  _ thing _ was. At the same time, the energy suddenly reacted, coming down from its spiral to hurl itself at the duo. With his spare hand, Link shoved Zelda roughly to the side, and as she cried out, both in fear and indignation, the light struck true.

 

Fast as the wind, Link’s sword hand became encased in the swirling green aura. He dropped his sword and cried out, rare for a man as quiet as him and even rarer to hear in combat. Zelda reached out only to be thrown backwards by a sudden explosion of wind, knocking her several meters away.

 

Groaning, Zelda pushed herself to her knees, squinting hard. The light had all but disappeared, reduced to a faint glow. Blinking hard, she focused harder, making out the new source of the light.

 

At the center of the glow knelt Link, clutching his arm, seemingly in pain. Said arm was now a ghostly green, steadily glowing under Link’s tight grasp.

 

Shakily, Zelda stood up and approached him. He didn’t react as she got closer, staying knelt and quivering slightly. Zelda knelt beside him.

 

“Link?” She inquired unsteadily. He looked up, meeting her eyes. His face was pulled into a grimace, eyebrows drawn tightly together, and teeth clenched. Pain and confusion stained his eyes, but he held her gaze steadily.

 

“Can you stand?” She asked. He nodded, shakily getting to his feet, still holding his newly glowing arm in a death grip. Zelda put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, pleasantly surprised when she was not forced backwards again. When he was on his feet, he opened his mouth. “Wha-”

 

Before he could finish his thought, the ground beneath them shook, trembled, and then crumbled. Zelda shouted, flinging her hand to meet Link’s. He grabbed her instantly, flinching as she grabbed his sword arm. His other arm reached to grab the wall, scrabbling fruitlessly as they fell.

 

Sameas before, there was no room to think. No slowed time, no strokes of genius, just the two of them falling helplessly into a sudden and merciless pit.

 

Just as suddenly, their fall stopped, the speed yanking on Zelda’s arm with enough force to dislocate it. Blinking through tears, she looked up to whatever had stopped their fall.

 

The hand had Link’s wrist in a death grip, fingernails digging into his skin even through his wrist guards. Despite this, it didn’t seem to intend harm, keeping the duo afloat above a seemingly endless chasm. 

 

Zelda opened her mouth to question the situation, but fate had other ideas. A great explosion resonated from above, far larger than the one before. The hand faltered, and the now trio plummeted to the depths below. As the wind stole Zelda’s screams from her throat, she could just barely make out a crimson light above them, accompanied by a chill down her spine too familiar to ignore before finally crashing to the ground below and succumbing to instant sleep.

 

]> ]> ]>

 

The first thing Zelda felt was pain. A deep, throbbing pain by her left shoulder, a wet, warm pain on the back of her head, and a sharp, piercing pain in her ankle. Screwing her eyes shut, she prayed to the Goddesses to go back to sleep. When it didn’t come, she reluctantly opened her eyes.

 

Wherever she was, it was dark. She could make out the familiar flickering light of a torch and a stranger, constant green glow.

 

Wait. She had seen that glow before. Zelda shot up only to double over again, hit by a tidal wave of nausea and a stab of pain to her skull. She held her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back the rising bile in her throat.

 

A breath. Another. The nausea slowly eased, leaving Zelda with the pain alone. Opening her eyes again, she peered around.

 

She was in a small cavern, a lit torch flickering weakly by her feet, the hand lying still-

 

Right, the  _ hand _ . Suddenly Zelda’s confusion was gone, replaced only by panic. She looked around frantically and spotted Link near instantly, his form illuminated by the twin lights.

 

She crawled over to him, ignoring the twinge in her ankle. Turning him on his back, her heart seized for a moment before calming. He was alright. Bloodied, bruised, and battered, but alive. His chest rose and fell consistently, implying no internal damage. Zelda quickly sized up his injuries. Bruising on the left side of his body, a gash on his forehead, maybe a dislocated shoulder from holding her, but  _ alive _ .

 

Sighing with relief, she sat back, trying to calm her racing thoughts. They had been in worse situations. They could figure this out.

 

Suddenly, Zelda noticed something new. Or perhaps not new; perhaps it had been there all along and she hadn’t noticed. A third light filled the room, growing steadily stronger and more vibrant. Sitting upright, Zelda forced herself to go to the source,

 

There, lying on the ground, filthy, rusted, and beautiful, was the Master Sword. It pulsated with a brilliant blue light that became stronger as Zelda came closer. The sword was magnetic, drawing her towards it in a mesmerizing trance. Half hesitantly, Zelda put her hand forward, paused, and then gently grasped the hilt.

 

**Welcome Master.**

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Ok so here’s my references:  
> The luminous stones are shaped like Timestone Rocks in Skyward Sword, so I put in the Ancient Robot from that game as well (hence why Link called it familiar).  
> The luminous stones are also closely related to the dead, as stated by the inventory description and implied by the fact that it’s the same color as the glow with the Champions and the hand.  
> U better fucking believe I think this Ganondorf is the one from Twilight Princess. Look at the wound on his chest! It’s identical! (Also the hand is totally Midna but u didn’t hear that from me)  
> PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE ZELDA PL  
> Also Fi is there.  
> Comments are life! Let me know what y’all think ;p


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